The present application relates generally to cargo loading and transportation systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods for loading and unloading cargo from the roofs of vehicles such as trailers, recreational vehicles, motor homes, campers, vans, trucks, sport utility vehicles, busses, boats, ships and trains.
Many people use the roof of their vehicles to haul additional cargo. Roof-top carriers are an example of this. However tall vehicles such as trailers, recreational vehicles, and busses have roofs that make lifting cargo problematic. The problem is made worse by heavier cargo such as spare tires, bicycles, animal feed and hay bales.
People have used make-shift methods such as portable step ladders or ropes to drag cargo to a vehicle roof. Others have proposed a portable boom type crane that is fitted to the vehicle roof to hoist cargo. Specialized vehicles such as garbage trucks and hay stacking machinery use elaborate mechanisms adapted specifically to the lifting of a particular type of load such as a garbage can or hay bale.
However, such methods and devices have their own disadvantages. For example, a portable step ladder requires a least one person to be able to lift the load himself while climbing the ladder. This invites accidents. A rope also requires a person to pull up a heavy load again risking injury. A boom type crane typically needs to be taken off of the vehicle roof or at least stowed while the vehicle is in transit. All of these methods then need to be set up again to unload the cargo once the vehicle reaches its destination.
Specialized vehicles are typically adapted to loading a limited range of cargo types and many times are not even suited to unloading. For example, garbage trucks may be adapted to empty individual garbage cans, but they are typically not adapted to the storage and transportation of garbage cans. Similarly, an agricultural hay stacker can pick up, store and transport individual hay bales, but is not suitable for the unloading of individual bales once they are picked up.